He took mein his hand and said,”You are my signet ring,son of David.”And warm thoughhis ancient loving voice,I gulped dust at the sound of my ancient father’s name,swam in the expanse betweenhis day and mine, choked onthe bitterness of dead promise.”You are my signet ring,” he said,”I will scorch you as wax and youshall sealContinue reading “Waiting 8: Zerubbabel (For Christ the King)”
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40 Days of Mercy Week 3: Mercy for the safe
This week I lost NBN connection and was locked out of my Google account while trying to buy an eBook of Ilya Kaminsky’s “Dancing in Odessa”. Today I found myself in the impossible position of trying to convey to an Optus consultant why it was no use telling me to download the Optus app toContinue reading “40 Days of Mercy Week 3: Mercy for the safe”
Ordinary Wednesday: Healing Home
In early primary school I remember composing the beginnings of a poem in my head. It went: I was born in Ballarat, some miles away from Melbourne,People always said to me, “Oh my, you must be well-born.” While I chose to prioritise rhyme and rhythm over truth (no-one has ever called me “well-born”, it showsContinue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: Healing Home”
Ordinary Wednesday: In the Wednesday of my life…
In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost. It is a hard thing to speak of, how wild, harsh and impenetrable that wood was, so that thinking of it recreates the fear. It is scarcely less bitter than death: but,Continue reading “Ordinary Wednesday: In the Wednesday of my life…”
Peace and the Thorn
“Mellow out,” they say. If I only could. Adolescent patient quoted by Dr Michael Piechowski Three times, the Apostle, says he cried,yet three times denied:within his side the unnamed thorn remained.To fester? To infect? No, to be the site of grace,for only this reply came: My grace is sufficient; in your weakness will my powerContinue reading “Peace and the Thorn”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 21
Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose,Continue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 21”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 15
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. Jonah 3:10 This should really be where the book of Jonah finishes. And in many children’s bible versions, it does finish here. The narrative arc of the disobedientContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 15”
The Gospel Reading
The day had gone on long enough.First the Pharisees and their questions,then the intruding children,then the camel and the needle’s eye,so that, when they cried out,”Who then can be saved?” it wasas much from the weariness of the day’s debates as the thought that riches could keep an earnest man from heaven.And so, right whenallContinue reading “The Gospel Reading”
Day Zero
On this dayI still wrestled my childreninto their clothes,still raced out the door too late for comfort,still pricked my finger with a rose thorn,still feared that all my labour’s in vain,and found the evening slumpa little close to despairyeteverything changed, while nothing changedand mustard seeds of life were at workwhether we noticedor not.
Changeless
Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect for Compline, The Book of Common Prayer Full of contradiction, I am buoyedby the blossomContinue reading “Changeless”
The Consolations of Writing 